Patterned deposition of anti-sintering agents via surface energy modulation for 3D printing

Abstract

The invention discloses a system. The system is provided with a surface; a raw material deposition head arranged to deposit a sinterable raw material having a binder on a surface; a patterning system arranged adjacent to the surface to vary the surface energy of the feedstock in a pattern to form a selective surface energy pattern on the feedstock; a sintered selective material deposition head disposed adjacent to the feedstock deposition head to deposit a sintered selective fluid, the sintered selective fluid selected to conform to a selective surface energy pattern; and a sintering chamber for sintering the raw material after depositing the anti-sintering agent. The invention discloses a method for forming a three-dimensional object. The method comprises the following steps: depositing a sinterable raw material on a surface; forming a surface energy pattern in the sinterable raw material by pattern debonding the binder from the sinterable raw material; depositing a sintering selective fluid mixed with a solvent selected to conform the sintering selective material to the surface energy pattern; and sintering the raw material.

Description

[0001] Related cases [0002] This patent application is related to co-pending U.S. Patent Application No. 17 / 077,062, filed October 22, 2020. technical field [0003] The present disclosure relates to 3D printing, and more particularly to 3D printing of sinterable, cohesive, dense feedstock. Background technique [0004] Selective suppression sintering is a 3D printing technique in which a metal feedstock, usually metal powder, undergoes pattern-wise sintering to form a 3D geometry of interest. The sintering inhibitor is deposited on a thin layer of raw material (usually metal powder mixed with a binder) in a pattern corresponding to the cross-sectional boundaries of the geometry of interest, thereby producing the patterning. The process is repeated layer by layer to build the 3D part. Sintering inhibitors form a barrier on the metal particle surface that prevents particle-to-particle bonding during sintering, creating a release boundary to separate the part from the surr...

AI Technical Summary

Problems solved by technology

However, this requires precise and expensive alignment between the two patterning systems to register the two patterns, and in the event of misregistration or alignment can lead to defects in the final part

This also results in the final speed of the printing system being limited by the slowest step (usually laser patterning or inkjet) as the two processes need to be implemented in tandem for the process to work correctly

Images